New BMW's getting stolen using blank BMW keys

[youngsyr]

pplondon said:

The film by its design will not push in. It will only push out. Check Pentagon and the videos http://www.pentagonlondon.co.uk/pentagon_glass_shi... And yes I installed this when my car was first attacked and not the alarm. The alarm was fitted 6 months later when the car was attacked again. It cost me to replace the shattered glass but the whole pane was still in place with a hole the size of a 10 pence piece and no dent in it. And of course, as you know the BMW alarm did not sound. The company said they had a really good go at it but they were kept out. Was the glass worth the money? Not sure. If I had had the alarm fitted at the time of the first attack, then maybe they would not of bothered as it would of been clear that the security was updated.

I think the key point is that you need something visible and obvious that leaves no doubt in the mind of the thief that they're not going to be able to just drill the lock/smash the window, clone a key and drive away within 3 minutes.

That's why something like a disklok, parking a car behind the BMW or a security pole is important. These scum bags have tens of thousands to cars to choose from that currently offer little risk for them. If you make it clear to them that stealing yours will take a lot more than the usual effort/risk, then hopefully they'll move on to the next victim.

I would view an upgraded alarm as a secondary security measure to be used in addition to the above - it's clear that these guys are prepared to drill locks/smash windows even with an LED flashing in the car and stickers on the window, so an alarm will only stop the theft, not the initial damage.

[youngsyr]

chrisABP said:

I've disabled my 1M OBD port now and can honestly say I slept better last night!

There is now no way that my OBD port can be interogated without my OBD correction lead being used! Simple cost effective mod that might just keep the thieving scum away!

Chris

Again, I keep labouring this point - but how is a potential thief going to know that your OBD II port is disabled? Disabling the OBD II port will stop the theft, but it won't stop the break in, possibly costing you/your insurers £thousands if they drill the lock and make a mess of the door as they have with other owners on this thread.

Whenever the car is visible to Joe Public, I'd advise fitting some other visible security (e.g. disklok) which prevents them even trying to break in to the car.

[chrisABP]

youngsyr said:

chrisABP said:

I've disabled my 1M OBD port now and can honestly say I slept better last night!

There is now no way that my OBD port can be interogated without my OBD correction lead being used! Simple cost effective mod that might just keep the thieving scum away!

Chris

Again, I keep labouring this point - but how is a potential thief going to know that your OBD II port is disabled? Disabling the OBD II port will stop the theft, but it won't stop the break in, possibly costing you/your insurers £thousands if they drill the lock and make a mess of the door as they have with other owners on this thread.

Whenever the car is visible to Joe Public, I'd advise fitting some other visible security (e.g. disklok) which prevents them even trying to break in to the car.

I have some stickers being made for the windows which I appreciate aren't as effective deterrant as a steering wheel lock BUT whilst I used to use a steering wheel lock in my 1st car (mk2 Escort) I won't be using one moving forward in the 1M. From memory it was heavy, clumbsy, marked the steering wheel and was a pig to store once removed without it rattling / moving around and damaging the car!

If it suffers an attempted break-in which it might (like any other car) then i'll deal with it the following morning but at least my car should still be there as opposed to never being seen again!

As I said I can now sleep easier at night.

[aeropilot]

mrmr96 said:

pplondon said:

The film by its design will not push in. It will only push out. Check Pentagon and the videos http://www.pentagonlondon.co.uk/pentagon_glass_shi... And yes I installed this when my car was first attacked and not the alarm. The alarm was fitted 6 months later when the car was attacked again. It cost me to replace the shattered glass but the whole pane was still in place with a hole the size of a 10 pence piece and no dent in it. And of course, as you know the BMW alarm did not sound. The company said they had a really good go at it but they were kept out. Was the glass worth the money? Not sure. If I had had the alarm fitted at the time of the first attack, then maybe they would not of bothered as it would of been clear that the security was updated.

Edited by pplondon on Thursday 20th September 10:54

Edited by pplondon on Thursday 20th September 11:07

Can't see the video at work, but surely if you drill a hole in the glass then you just pass in something like a tent peg puller and pull on the hole and drags the filmed glass out? (You said it can "push out" so using a hook will do the same thing from the outside presumably?)

Indeed.

When I talked direct to Pentagon some 6 months ago, when this thread first started, they told me that the film would protect against opportunist 'chuck a brick through the window' type attacks, but not against an attack with a 'break glass in case of emergency' type hammer, or a glass cutting tool.
At a quoted £500+ for a 1 Series coupe (and two days lost pay as the windows need to be completely removed and left overnight before refitting) I decided to look at other means of protection.

[youngsyr]

chrisABP said:

I have some stickers being made for the windows which I appreciate aren't as effective deterrant as a steering wheel lock BUT whilst I used to use a steering wheel lock in my 1st car (mk2 Escort) I won't be using one moving forward in the 1M. From memory it was heavy, clumbsy, marked the steering wheel and was a pig to store once removed without it rattling / moving around and damaging the car!

If it suffers an attempted break-in which it might (like any other car) then i'll deal with it the following morning but at least my car should still be there as opposed to never being seen again!

As I said I can now sleep easier at night.

Fair enough, the reason I'm labouring the point is that I know of a BMW that had the window stickers stating the OBDII was disconnected, but a scumbag still drilled the lock and tried it anyway whilst the car was on his drive.

The owner woke up the next morning to find his car still there, but now with £2k of damage done to it resulting in an insurance claim being logged which obviously increased the risk for him, the car and his home address.

Time will tell whether he can afford to insure it next year, or even get a policy.

[Mr Bimmer]

don'tbesilly said:

Thanks for that D_G,I got the impression from one poster on here,that the fact that the OBD remained live after the firmware update was in some way a continued weakness,if that is not the case,why even mention it?

j

I mentioned it because someone else on here was speculating on whether the port would remain live after the update.

[CMOS]

Just been advised that my new car will be with me mid October. Does any one have Scorpion Track. I have spoken with two dealers who install them all, they both raved about Scorpion Track.

Edited by CMOS on Thursday 20th September 13:36

[don'tbesilly]

Mr Bimmer said:

I mentioned it because someone else on here was speculating on whether the port would remain live after the update.

Thanks for that,I'd be grateful if you could answer my other query.

Thanks

don'tbesilly said:

You've mentioned this firmware update on a number of occasions now,so why if it exists,have BMW stated on Radio 4 this morning, that, "There is still no fix available,but one may be available in approx 7 wks" (or words to that effect).

[Mr Bimmer]

don'tbesilly said:

You've mentioned this firmware update on a number of occasions now,so why if it exists,have BMW stated on Radio 4 this morning, that, "There is still no fix available,but one may be available in approx 7 wks" (or words to that effect).

The fact that BMW have said that the fix will be available in 7 weeks doesn't mean it's not finalised. Have you done the maths to see how long it will take to update the X5/X6 models?

[don'tbesilly]

Mr Bimmer said:

don'tbesilly said:

You've mentioned this firmware update on a number of occasions now,so why if it exists,have BMW stated on Radio 4 this morning, that, "There is still no fix available,but one may be available in approx 7 wks" (or words to that effect).

The fact that BMW have said that the fix will be available in 7 weeks doesn't mean it's not finalised. Have you done the maths to see how long it will take to update the X5/X6 models?

I do appreciate that it will take quite some time to deal with all the X5/6 models,however BMW's stance is quite clear,they stated "There is still NO fix available" (for the 3 Series).

So I'll hazard a guess, and suggest that you're implying that the fix is available,however BMW are being economical with the truth,because of having to deal with the X5/6s.

Would that be a fair interpretation of what you're suggesting?

[smack]

The Daily Wail has picked it up now....:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-220...

[Band0]

t8cmf said:

Why do you think the alarm will go off if the glass is pushed 4" inside the cabin?
The blind spot on these alarms is massive. I can wave my arms pretty much anywhere inside the front of my cabin (E92 M3) and the alarm doesn't go off. It does go off if you wave behind the headrests.
The film is a good idea but I'm not sure how effective it would be on frameless windows though.

mrmr96 said:

Can't see the video at work, but surely if you drill a hole in the glass then you just pass in something like a tent peg puller and pull on the hole and drags the filmed glass out? (You said it can "push out" so using a hook will do the same thing from the outside presumably?)

aeropilot said:

When I talked direct to Pentagon some 6 months ago, when this thread first started, they told me that the film would protect against opportunist 'chuck a brick through the window' type attacks, but not against an attack with a 'break glass in case of emergency' type hammer, or a glass cutting tool.
At a quoted £500+ for a 1 Series coupe (and two days lost pay as the windows need to be completely removed and left overnight before refitting) I decided to look at other means of protection.

Talking windows and blind spots - a personal friend had a recent attempt on his M3 convertible.
Fortunately it didn't go, however after reviewing his CCTV, it was an eye-opener to see just how easy is it to pop the window with the glass hammer...



Tap the top left corner and out it pops in the bottom right corner which is the perfectly placed to get your arm in to avoid the blind spot - go to give it to these boys, they don't half know what they are doing (I shouldn't admit that) but appears they are doing their homework more than others...

[metsta]

friend at work and i parked our cars with the windows open a jar, mine an 07 m5 his an 08 s6 audi. set alarms in the bmw you can get arm all the way in and down to the obd port, wave your arm around etc and no alarm, plenty of scope to get the obd hooked up and away? same in his audi, plenty of scope to reach all the way down and under steering wheel to the port, also on this keyprogtools.com the audi is ready to be cloned too. so hopefully once the bm's are sorted they can focus on the audi's?

[spanky3]

Just seen this unbelievable BMW PR fk-up on the daily mail:

"This does not mean the car companies have done anything wrong, neither are they legally obliged to take any action."

So I've bought a car from a company that thinks customer service is about not getting sued?

Shocking attitude. You have to wonder what idiot authorised that statement.

They may not get sued but they're going to struggle with repeat business.

Edited by spanky3 on Thursday 20th September 20:39

[t8cmf]

There's a guy on M3Cutters who got his E92 M3 Saloon back today after having it repaired after it was stolen in Birmingham over 3 weeks ago. His opening post has some positive information. I hope it's true.

http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=619...

[spanky3]

Just read the Thatcham list of approved steering wheel locks. According to this

http://www.thatcham.org/security/pdfs/categories/P...

the disklok is no longer Thatcham certified. In fact the only thing that is, is the Stoplok Pro.

Anyone know if that's correct or am I reading it wrong?

[youngsyr]

Seems like it's only the small size that's deleted? Is it because they don't make it anymore?

Disklok site still has it as Thatcham approved:

http://www.disklokuk.co.uk/products.html

Edited by youngsyr on Thursday 20th September 21:35

[ITP]

Why bother with giant steering wheel locks or expensive secondary alarms. Until BMW comes up with the fix why not just unplug, or take a small part off your engine that stops the car from being driven away? It's free too. Won't stop the excrement breaking your window or doing a bit of damage but at least it will still be there. Got to be worth doing if your car is on your drive overnight at least.

[imuir]

metsta said:

friend at work and i parked our cars with the windows open a jar, mine an 07 m5 his an 08 s6 audi. set alarms in the bmw you can get arm all the way in and down to the obd port, wave your arm around etc and no alarm, plenty of scope to get the obd hooked up and away? same in his audi, plenty of scope to reach all the way down and under steering wheel to the port, also on this keyprogtools.com the audi is ready to be cloned too. so hopefully once the bm's are sorted they can focus on the audi's?

That's really helpful I'm sure all Audi drivers will be thankful for you comments (NOT)

[anonymous-user]

imuir said:

That's really helpful I'm sure all Audi drivers will be thankful for you comments (NOT)

I'm sure the thieves are totally unaware!!